Patent Issued for Vehicle driver feedback device (USPTO 11548390): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 JAN 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Briggs, Ryan M. (Glen Ellyn, IL, US), Bryer, Nathan M. (Arlington Heights, IL, US), filed on July 16, 2020, was published online on January 10, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11548390 is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Vehicle On-Board Diagnostics devices are standard on all modern vehicles. These devices generally provide telematics data for the vehicle operations. Additionally, smart phones or personal communication devices have been widely available from companies such as Research In Motion (RIM). Recent introduction of the iPhone® by Apple Inc. and Android by Google phones have accelerated market penetration of these devices. Smart phones provide a broad range of capabilities, such as large readable displays, the ability to add new applications to the phone, network connectivity via cellular and/or WiFi, and global positioning system (GPS) location determination.

“The disclosure relates generally to an in-vehicle device, which utilizes smart phones or personal communication devices and/or vehicle on-board diagnostics devices to collect driving data and provides driving feedback based on the collected driving data.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The following presents a general summary of aspects of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of at least some of its aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“The present disclosure provides an in-vehicle device that collects driving data and provides feedback based on the driving data.

“According to one aspect of the disclosure, a system comprises an in-vehicle device that includes a graphical user interface and a processor and data collection device wirelessly connected to the in-vehicle device. The in-vehicle device may be configured to receive vehicle telematics data from the data collection device. The processor may process the telematics data in real time and cause the telematics data to be displayed on the graphical user interface. Additionally, the graphical user interface may include a speed display and/or an acceleration display. Additionally, the acceleration display may include a two-dimensional rendering of a three-dimensional shape, wherein the two-dimensional rendering of the three-dimensional shape may be located within a larger geometric shape and wherein based on the processed telematics data, the two-dimensional rendering of the three-dimensional shape may move within the geometric shape. Further, the two-dimensional rendering of the three-dimensional shape and geometric shape may be defined by a bubble centered on a concentric circle, wherein the bubble may float in the center of the concentric circle when the vehicle is motion and may move within the concentric circle based on the processed telematics data.

“According to another aspect of the disclosure, an in-vehicle device may comprise a processor configured to receive and process vehicle telematics data and a graphical user interface configured to display the telematics data. The in-vehicle device may be a cell phone, smartphone, or tablet, used solely as the processor and graphical user interface. For example, the in-vehicle feedback device may acquire the driving data directly from the device, such as a smart phone or tablet computer, via a built-in accelerometer and/or a Global Positioning System (GPS). The graphical user interface may include a bobble-head driving avatar that displays an animated event. Further, the bobble-head driving avatar may include a head that moves on a body based on the telematics data from the accelerometer. Additionally, the animated event may be triggered by a hard braking and the head goes forward on the bobble-head driving avatar to include an animated glass break after the hard braking occurs. In another aspect, the animated event may be triggered by a rapid acceleration and the head spins on the bobble-head driving avatar when the rapid acceleration occurs. In yet another aspect, the animated event is triggered by speeding and the head goes backward on the bobble-head driving avatar after the speeding occurs. Further, the animated event may be triggered by fast cornering and the bobble-head driving avatar falls over after the fast cornering occurs.

“According to a further aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method may comprise the steps of: receiving vehicle telematics data from a data collection device located in a vehicle; processing the telematics data in real-time by a processor, wherein the processing includes running a series of computer-readable instructions to generate a driving summary and analysis of the telematics data; and generating, by the processor, on a display located in the vehicle a bobble-head driving avatar, wherein the bobble-head driving avatar displays an animated event, and further wherein the bobble-head driving avatar includes a head that moves on a body based on the telematics data from the data collection device.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A vehicle monitoring system comprising: a battery-powered in-vehicle device, capable of being affixed to a vehicle, comprising a processor, a memory, an accelerometer, and short-range wireless communication circuitry, wherein the in-vehicle device is configured to measure driving data of the vehicle and store the driving data in the memory; a mobile communications device wirelessly connected to the in-vehicle device through the short-range wireless communication circuitry, wherein the mobile communications device is configured to process the driving data to generate real-time feedback for a driver of the vehicle; and a feedback device in communication with the mobile communications device, wherein the feedback device is configured to provide, in real-time, the feedback, wherein the feedback is based on one or more of a time when the driver operates the vehicle and a behavior of the driver operating the vehicle.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the feedback device is configured to display, in real-time, a graphical representation of the driving data, wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of one or more of: a time chart indicative of the driving data associated with the time when the driver operates the vehicle; and a driving behavior chart indicative of the driving data associated with the behavior of the driver operating the vehicle.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein the time chart further comprises a time-frame, a circular driving chart, a total miles section, and a risk summary chart.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the risk summary chart is indicative of a level of risk, and wherein the risk summary chart comprises at least one of (1) a time-frame associated with the level of risk, or (2) a number of miles that the driver has operated the vehicle at the level of risk.

“5. The system of claim 2, wherein the time chart is of circular shape, and further comprises: a twenty-four hour chart around an outer boundary, a plurality of bars projecting outwardly from a center of the circular shape to the outer boundary, and wherein each bar represents a drive event charted toward a respective driving time.

“6. The system of claim 2, wherein the driving behavior chart illustrates a number of occurrences for a drive event over a time frame, and wherein the drive event comprises one or more of a hard acceleration event, an extreme acceleration event, a hard braking event, an extreme braking event, a fast cornering event, an extreme fast cornering event, a speeding event, and an extreme speeding event.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the feedback device comprises a coaching module to provide the feedback in an audible format.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle device is capable of being affixed to the vehicle without having to connect with an on-board diagnostics port of the vehicle.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein upon activation, the in-vehicle device is configured to communicate with the mobile communications device.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle device further comprises a datalogger configured to communicate with an on-board diagnostics port of the vehicle.

“11. The system of claim 1, wherein the short-range wireless communication circuitry comprises a Bluetooth serial interface configured to communicate with the mobile communications device.

“12. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a remote processing server located remote from the vehicle and configured to receive the driving data, wherein the driving data is associated with the mobile communications device.

“13. The system of claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle device is integrated into the mobile communications device.

“14. The system of claim 2, wherein the graphical user interface is integrated into the mobile communications device or a vehicle dashboard of the vehicle.

“15. An apparatus comprising: an in-vehicle device capable of being affixed to a windshield of a vehicle and not connected to an on-board diagnostics port of the vehicle, the in-vehicle device comprising: a processor; a memory; a sensor configured to measure motion data corresponding to a drive event of the vehicle; and a short-range wireless communication circuitry; wherein the in-vehicle device is configured to store the motion data in the memory, wherein the motion data is processed to generate the drive event comprising a hard acceleration event, an extreme acceleration event, a hard braking event, an extreme braking event, a fast cornering event, an extreme fast cornering event, a speeding event, and an extreme speeding event, wherein the processor is configured to determine a trip start of the vehicle using the motion data, wherein upon activation, the in-vehicle device is configured to: connect, using the short-range wireless communication circuitry, to a mobile communications device, send the motion data to the mobile communications device to generate real-time feedback for a driver of the vehicle, and provide, in real-time, the feedback, wherein the feedback is based on one or more of a time when the driver operates the vehicle and a behavior of the driver operating the vehicle.

“16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the in-vehicle device is further configured to display, in real-time, a graphical representation of the driving data, wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of one or more of: a time chart indicative of the driving data associated with a time when a driver operates the vehicle; and a driving behavior chart indicative of the driving data associated with a behavior of the driver operating the vehicle.

“17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the time chart further comprises a risk summary chart indicative of, a level of risk, and a time-frame associated with the level of risk.

“18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the driving behavior chart illustrates a number of occurrences for the drive event over a time frame.

“19. An in-vehicle device comprising: an in-vehicle device housing affixed to a windshield of a vehicle, wherein the in-vehicle device housing omits any interface to an electronic system in the vehicle; a battery contained within the in-vehicle device housing, wherein the battery powers the in-vehicle device; an accelerometer contained within the in-vehicle device housing, wherein the accelerometer is configured to measure acceleration data of the vehicle; and a processor contained within the in-vehicle device housing, wherein the processor is configured to determine a trip start of the vehicle based on the acceleration data; a memory contained within the in-vehicle device housing, wherein the memory is configured to store the acceleration data, and wherein the acceleration data is processed to generate the drive event comprising a hard acceleration event, an extreme acceleration event, a hard braking event, an extreme braking event, a fast cornering event, an extreme fast cornering event, a speeding event, and an extreme speeding event; and a short-range wireless communication circuitry contained within the in-vehicle device housing, wherein the in-vehicle device is configured to connect with Bluetooth, using the short-range wireless communication circuitry, to a mobile communications device and then to send the acceleration data to the mobile communications device to generate real-time feedback for a driver of the vehicle, and provide, in real-time, the feedback, wherein the feedback is based on one or more of a time when the driver operates the vehicle and a behavior of the driver operating the vehicle.

“20. The in-vehicle device of claim 19, further configured to display, in real-time, a graphical representation of the acceleration data, wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of one or more of: a time chart indicative of the acceleration data associated with a time when a driver operates the vehicle; and a driving behavior chart indicative of the acceleration data associated with a behavior of the driver operating the vehicle.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Briggs, Ryan M. Vehicle driver feedback device. U.S. Patent Number 11548390, filed July 16, 2020, and published online on January 10, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11548390)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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